Staying hydrated on the tennis court is so important. Proper hydration keeps you energetic and healthy. And when you’re energetic and healthy, you may have that little extra edge over your opponent that will help you win the match.
But the truth is . . . water can be just a little boring. And sports drinks are often calorie-laden sugar bombs. So this recipe for “fruit-infused waters” is just the kind of thing to pique my interest. These fruity waters are great-tasting, nutritious and pretty much calorie-free. And, bonus, they’re so cute looking!
Making fruit infused water is extremely simple. In fact, I think it’s really stretching the use of the word “recipe” to call this a recipe. But I have tried out a few-different combos so I guess that makes this a recipe:
FRUIT-INFUSED WATERS
Add about 1/2 to 1 cup clean, sliced fruit to filtered water. Allow to soak, or infuse, for at least 30 minutes, and no more than 12 hours. Drink up!
See? Not really a recipe.
But this stuff can backfire on you. After trial and error, here are my “tips” for making the best fruit-infused water.
1. Use ripe, clean, organic fruit. It’s soaking in the water, after all, so anything on that fruit is leaching into that water and is easily ingested when you drink it.
2. For best results, allow the fruit to soak in the water for anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Less than 30 minutes and you don’t get much of the fruity taste. More than 2 hours and your fruit gets kind of mushy.
3. Eat the fruit! That’s the big benefit to this stuff if you ask me. Instead of carrying around berries, kiwi slices or orange sections, I can keep them in my water bottle and actually eat them on court. I have done this several times and no one has even noticed. Or if they did, they didn’t ask me about it.
4. I don’t carry a wide mouth Mason jar out onto the tennis court. I just used them for the photo above because they looked pretty. Instead, I use a wide mouth water bottle that I carry on court.
Here are some great combos that I’ve tried and loved:
- Kiwi & Blackberry – this surprised me by being my favorite
- Strawberry & Blueberry – any combination of berries, or just one kind, works great
- Lemon & Lime – a classic, for good reason
- Grapefruit – so refreshing
So give this recipe a try. Let me know what you think. I’d love to hear some original fruit combinations that you like. Something with watermelon maybe? Yum!
© Kim Selzman 2014 All Rights Reserved